I am going to meet some friends at Yokohama this weekend. We haven’t been seeing each other for a long time. That day happens to be Valentine’s day. So I decided to give chocolates to my friends.

I browsed, tasted and a bit drunk

I went to a chocolate event at Takashimaya department store. There were more than 120 chocolate shop booths. I browsed through all the booths and tasted some chocolates and got a bit drunk, because I can’t drink at all. Seriously I got very drunk just because of those few pieces of chocolate.

Something from Kansai for my friends

I like “PIERRE HERME” but I didn’t buy it this year.
I was looking for something from Kansai for my friends who don’t live in Kansai area. Finally, I bought the “Leaf choco of Monloire”. I asked the salesperson at the booth “Is this shop only in Kansai?” She said “Yes, this shop is based in Kobe.” I bought them with a sense of relief.

A chocolate box autographed by a famous chef should happen in front of me!

After that, I heard a man shouted “LE CORDON BLEU’s pastry chef has appeared on surprise! and he is signing autograph on chocolate boxes.” at LE CORDON BLEU booths. Then, I bought a box of chocolate for my husband. When I was paying and waiting for my cash card back, the chocolate box was already autographed by the famous chef, though I was not able to see him signing in front of me. It should happen in front of me, as if a book writer gives out autograph at autograph session in a book store. I was really disappointed even though I don’t know the French chef very well.

Things sometimes don’t go the way I want, but I still have…

And afterwords I found out that “Monloire” has 3 shops in Tokyo on the internet.
Things sometimes don’t go the way I want.
Luckily, this time I still have some delicious chocolate saved for myself.

A tasting meal for wedding

Last year my friend engaged with her boyfriend. And recently she is looking for a nice place to host the wedding party.
Last week she invited me to a tasting meal for wedding. Supposedly she was going with her fiancé but he couldn’t make it so I went for him.

A splendid performance

We went to “8G.minamihorie“, a restaurant in Osaka.
When we sat down side by side at the table, there were welcome message cards on each plate. And there was my name’s embroidery on the napkin. Wow! I felt like a groom.
The course started with 8 kinds of relishes as starters, a sea bream as entree, and finished with a regular dessert and a surprise dessert. A sous-chef came to our table and explained each dish.
All dishes were splendid. So I was very full that I couldn’t eat all the sweets. That was my only regret for the day.
↑a sea bream as entree
↑a surprise dessert

All the food are free!!

I went to bathroom and found our pictures, which were taken at the beginning of the meal, framed nicely near the sink.
There were many small surprises, a hand written welcome message, a napkin with my name, surprise sweets and our pictures in the bathroom.

And above all, all the food and such elaborated services are free!!

The restaurant knows my friend has already visited other restaurants and she will choose one of them. Although I have nothing to do with picking the restaurant, the restaurant staff treated me very well.

Overwhelmed by their hospitality

We left the restaurant and walked away on the street and looked back, a sous-chef was still standing and waving his hand to us. It was raining and cold that day.
We were walking and holding our umbrellas. Suddenly my friend uttered and said “There is a heat pad in my coat pocket!” Likewise, there was the same thing in my pocket with a thank you card.
What a nice and warm hospitality! I was quite overwhelmed by their over the top hospitality.

Plaque control

I go to dentist once a month for plaque control.
This time, I received a treatment called “TMTC” which removes plaque more completely. My dental hygienist treated me very well. The process took one hour. Then, my teeth were clean and beautiful once again.

Why don’t you use medical insurance?

I recommend you to go to dentist frequently for avoiding gum disease and keep cleaning your teeth. You can use medical insurance for plaque control, but not for TMTC. TMTC is not so expensive. It costs less than 3000 yen.

This is for your health

Think about it, if you go to beauty salon for a facial, a nail, or whatever treatment, it might cost more than 5000 yen an hour. In comparison, an excellent dental hygienist gives you one-to-one service to your teeth with care, and the whole service is covered by medical insurance.
And above all, this is for your health.